


Frozen

by TrinityRose



Category: The Flash
Genre: AU, F/M, Snowells
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-07-20 15:53:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16140527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrinityRose/pseuds/TrinityRose
Summary: Harrison Wells was sure he lost the love of his life. At least until his team brought in a metahuman with a striking resemblance to his Snow.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [](https://postimg.cc/0MP8tCqR)   
> 

It was snowing heavily, S.T.A.R. Labs getting almost completely buried in the white powder, the freezing cold penetrating its walls, fighting the heating system and even causing it to fail at times before the generator would kick back in again.

It wasn't as though the cold mattered to Harrison Wells. He didn't even know what being warm felt like anymore and it had nothing to do with the weather. It had always been snowing in his world, even before the one event that changed his entire life and took it off course. Only back then the word itself carried an entirely different meaning – an oxymoronic heat.

He ignored the umpteenth time the heating system was overloaded, the lights flickering. He was certain that Ramon would soon fix it anyway as he hated the cold. In fact, Wells didn't remember if he'd ever seen the guy in anything resembling a warm sweater. He himself didn't even bother putting his hoodie on, suffering one way or another. The truth was that it was always there, pressing against his chest, sucking the life out of him, making it impossible to breathe. In fact, he'd grown so much older past those three years that one could say it'd been ten. Not that he cared, though. He didn't care about anything anymore. Well, maybe about Ramon and Allen, he sighed, running his shaky hand through the salt and pepper locks. Those two were the only reason he was still standing. Thanks to them he could somehow go on, leading at least a semblance of a life, being useful to them. Ever since the night that had ended his life, he could do nothing but sit in the Labs, working hard, because it was better than being left alone in his house with his thoughts. Having discovered that he'd accidentally given Allen superspeed helped. A lot. Having Ramon there helped as well. He just wished he hadn't wasted or destroyed so many lives in the process, including… _No_ , he couldn't even _think_ of _her_.

He hadn't had a proper night of sleep ever since that fateful night during which his biggest dream turned into his worse failure, taking away not only his career – that now he would gladly give away for just one more minute spent with _her_ – but what – or rather _whom_ – he held the dearest.

Caitlin Snow, the love of his life was gone and he was a wreck of the man he's used to be.

* * *

_Three years ago…_

This was his favorite kind of a wake-up call.

He was lying in a deliciously warm bed, the curtains on the windows closed, preventing the blinding light from entering the room and causing them to squint unpleasantly. What was most important, though, was the woman lying in bed right next to him, just now gently pressing herself into his back, her hand currently running down his arm as her lips touched his shoulder.

"Wakey-wakey," she teased him when he grunted, not wanting to leave his dreamlands just yet. Or maybe not even that in particular. He just enjoyed lying there with her right next to him, being perfectly happy and together in their warm cocoon as though the outside world didn't even exist. This was his safe harbor – this beautiful, brilliant, kind and simply amazing woman. He never wanted to let her go and maybe he would never admit it aloud to anyone who would ask, but he would immediately abandon his entire career if only she asked him to.

Only she would never do that because she knew how much S.T.A.R. Labs mattered to him. And it mattered to her as well since they both worked there, by now not bothered at all by how the other employees were looking at their relationship. Harrison never gave her any special treatment at work anyway, both because he wasn't that kind of a man and she would never want him to be. Match truly made in heaven as they understood each other perfectly.

"You know they won't start without you, don't you?" she asked while he refused to even open his eyes, but he did turn around and quickly gathered her into his arms, pressing his face into the crook of her neck and breathing in everything that was her, basking himself in her warmth.

Just then he remembered why she was so persistent they got up. Today they were going to launch the particle accelerator.

* * *

_Now_

He didn't even move on hearing the alarm, sure that Ramon would soon hit the console in the cortex and Allen would go out there to save the day. Quite frankly, he felt kind of sorry for the latter. No one would want to run in such a freezing temperature, not even the Flash.

Then again. He stopped giving a damn about anything a long time ago, comfortable enough in his friends' company to just vent and be the obnoxious self while still have them like him. He didn't know what he did to deserve that. Quite frankly, he had no idea what'd done to deserve _her_ once, but the man he'd been back then was nothing in comparison to who he was now.

Now the constant hunger for knowledge, for building new things, for creating; this good man who'd used to smile quite a lot thanks to a certain someone was gone, replaced by a shadow with anger issues.

He couldn't care less. It wasn't like he had anyone to impress anyway. They could take him or leave him. He didn't care.

Little did he know that soon he would start again.

It was Ramon that alarmed him, running to his small lab and informing that Allen caught an unusual meta and she could even have something to do with the weather being so awful.

Ok, Harry had to admit it sounded pretty interesting, so he eventually forced himself to leave his seat and follow Ramon into the pipeline.

He so did not expect what he found there.

"What's so special about this one?" he asked when joining Allen by the glass wall separating them from the prisoner. From a brief look he gave her, he noticed white hair and incredibly pale skin. Just looking at this mysterious woman made him feel colder despite the freshly fixed heating system.

"Anything she touches she turns to ice," Barry informed, scratching his head. "She almost turned me blue when I tried to get closer and then she shot an actual icicle at me."

"Interesting," Harry muttered under his breath, looking over the data Ramon had already put into their system and that was now displayed on the tablet he grabbed.

And then he froze, because the woman spoke in a voice that caused him to shiver. He'd never heard it before, yet there was something nearly painfully familiar in it.

"Well, well, well, we meet at last, dr. Wells. I saw quite a lot of you in my head."

"You know her?" Cisco asked his older friend, clearly interested whereas Wells just stood there, still not moving, still not able to look at her.

But he had to, didn't he? He _had_ to make sure.

He braced himself, taking a deep ragging breath and then he found himself falling to pieces all over again, his emotions waking up and threatening to get out of control when he realized he was looking at the face of Caitlin Snow. Her hair, complexion and especially her eyes were all different, but that didn't change the fact that it'd used to be her once.

The worst was that in that moment he realized this was all his doing. That she didn't die the night of the accelerator explosion, her body being obliterated like he thought. She was a monster now.

It was all his fault and he wished he'd been the one to pay the price for his grand mistake. Not her. _Never_ her.

It all very quickly became too much and before he knew it, he was dropping the tablet and turning around, striding out of the pipeline and into the corridor, his back hitting a wall as he started looking for some purchase; his chest raising and falling, heart beating so fast he was afraid his body wouldn't be able to handle it. It wasn't as though he was a perfect picture of health after he'd lost her, eating way too much fast food. Yes, he'd never stopped working out, but that was merely to unload his frustrations, it was an easy release of his anger that was always there, simmering beneath the surface.

"Harry?" he then heard Cisco's voice as the guy must've followed him. And of course he did. "Harry, I don't understand. Who is she to you? Do you know her?"

Wells kept his eyes shut, but in that moment he opened them and looked straight at his friend, a haunted look there, one that even actually scared Cisco.

"Yes," the heavy and raspy voice replied. "She's my wife."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Following FrostWells' information that the original scrip of the Flash pilot listed Harrison as being 40, I decided to finally go with that here. Also, I've been struggling with this idea a lot, having way too many and too little time and will to put them all down to metaphorical paper that is my laptop. In the end, I decided to fit into this one a few ideas and made it a whole : )


	2. Chapter 2

Cisco was just standing there in pure shock. Harry rendered him speechless and in that moment the younger man realized how little he truly knew about his mentor and friend. They'd been working together for more than two years now and he always considered his knowledge about Wells sufficient enough. Well, until now. The man had secrets, but in the same time it wasn't Cisco place to judge him. He needed to help.

Only by the time he got over hearing that particular information and was ready to say something, Harry was already gone, heading down the corridor and directing himself to the exit.

"Did he just…?" Barry whooshed in, coming to a stop right next to his friend.

"You heard that?"

"Yep. I… I don't even know what to…"

"Exactly. Come on!"

Both the boys followed Harrison until they found him just outside the door, standing in the raging snowstorm.

"You wanna catch pneumonia?" Cisco asked idly just to start the conversation, but then, when the older man refused to move – and he was only wearing his usual black attire with the hoodie put over it – he added, "Harry, seriously, you need to come right back in. You'll get sick and how will that help… well, _her_?" He still didn't know the name of Harry's wife. Hell, he didn't even know whether they were still married, but from the look on Wells' face he deduced they were and that they'd been very, very happy. Harrison must've thought she'd tragically died and that it was his fault and quite frankly, everything finally started falling into place. Now the usually dickish behavior made sense, the angriness towards everything, the despair Cisco sometimes saw on his mentor's face. He realized it wasn't all because of the particle accelerator explosion and the havoc it wrecked in the city. There was always more to it – it caused him to lose the love of his life and there was no way one could just be ok after something like _that_.

Eventually, Harry did nod and both the younger men were relieved that he chose to step back inside all on his own and that they didn't have to force him. Barry quickly closed the door.

"Harry…"

Only the man in question only stuck his hands into his pockets and left again. They caught up with him in the cortex, seeing him sitting by his desk, his face buried in his hands. Eventually, he took them away and sighed heavily before saying, "It's been three years since I last saw her." His voice was ragged, heavy and it sounded so, so different from the one they were all used to. Also, his body was being wrecked by small tremors and they had no way of knowing whether it was because of the cold outside or the stress. Maybe a little bit of both.

Barry took the hint and sped out and back in, carrying a hot cup of coffee from the Jitters, just the way his boss liked it and handing it over to him.

Harrison accepted the cup with a grateful nod, holding it in his hands, letting the hot beverage warm up his skin.

"We were…" he started and stopped with another sigh, his eyes set on the cup he was holding. He couldn't bear to look at the boys at the moment, but he knew he also owed them the truth if they were going to help him. Whoever or whatever they had locked in the pipeline now, she couldn't be treated like any other meta. She was different. She was… _special_. A bitter-sweet taste appeared in his mouth and he took a sip of the coffee. "I never told you about her… We… we built this place together, we were… inseparable. I think I would never achieve so much on my own. She was my… inspiration, my… my _everything_ ," his voice broke a little and both Barry and Cisco exchanged knowing glances since seeing their boss in this stage was becoming too painful. They understood each other without words, swearing they'd help Harry however they could, that they would do anything in their power to bring his wife back. "We were so in love…" Harry nearly smiled at the memory before the pain overtook his features once again. "We were already talking kids… If the accelerator revolutionized the world the way we hoped it would, we might start trying to build a family… Well, I was forty, she was twenty seven, but… we just clicked. The age difference never stopped us from anything, from falling in love, from understanding one another so perfectly…" His voice trembled again and he took another sip of the coffee. "She was my soulmate."

"She still is, Harry," Barry chose that moment to speak, though he wasn't sure he did the right thing. He desperately wanted to comfort his friend, but he had no idea how. He could only imagine what Wells must be feeling when trying to project what he would feel if something like this happened to Iris. Truth be told, he'd rather not think about it at all.

"You've seen her," Harry said, his voice growing harsher as he finally lifted his head and looked at his friends. "I know her as doctor Caitlin Snow, a brilliant and beautiful scientist with an amazing mind and a heart of gold. This… this metahuman out there… she's not her. She seemed cold. Her hair is all changed, her eyes, her skin…"

"Maybe she's not," Barry answered and Harry shot him a look. "What? You saw her in there. She did recognize you, but she did say that she saw you in her head. Maybe that woman really isn't Caitlin Snow."

A grimace appeared on Harry's face as he realized that Allen might be onto something, but that only made the situation worse. "Great, so she's really gone, replaced by someone who took over her body and that's gonna help me _how_?!" he suddenly screamed, getting up from his chair and helplessly running his hands through his hair. "Is this another punishment? Another price to pay for screwing the accelerator so much that people diedaround me? My career is already ruined and I lost the only woman that ever truly mattered to me!" He kicked his chair so hard that it rolled over to the other side of the cortex.

Cisco didn't know what to say, wearing a terrified expression. It wasn't that he was scared of his boss, no, he was just also feeling helpless because he wanted to help desperately and he didn't know how. The last thing he wanted to do was to watch Harrison Wells fall to pieces since he was pretty sure they would never be able to bring him back from that.

"She's not dead, Harry," Barry said in a calming voice and Cisco couldn't be more grateful for that. "Maybe she's still in there somewhere."

"Think hard about all the metas we've encountered so far, Allen," Harry responded, resting his hands on his hips as he faced the Flash. "When have we ever met one that was turned into a completely different person personality wise?"

"Just because we haven't seen anything like this yet, doesn't mean she's gone," Cisco finally took voice as well. "Harry, she said she saw you in her head. You say she's changed. What if the powers did this to her? I mean… if Caitlin Snow, the woman you love, suddenly found herself with powers, don't you think she'd come back to you immediately if she loved you as much as you love her?"

"That's the whole point. She would. So this meta… it's not her. I… I'm sorry… I can't do this…" he then muttered and before they knew it, he exited the cortex, leaving both the men just looking at each other with matching expressions.

"God, what do we do?" Cisco asked, covering his face with his hands. "I mean… it's _Harry_."

"I know," Barry admitted. "He's always been here for us and we can't abandon him now."

"But we just made it all worse! How do we find out if the love of his life is really gone or not?"

"She's got to be in there," Barry argued. "She's got to be, because that meta remembers him!"

"So what? Maybe someone took over her body… Damn…"

"There's one thing we can try out now," Barry suggested.

"And what's that?"

* * *

_The night of the particle accelerator explosion_

"The future will be here faster than you think," Harrison Wells was just attending his press conference. He couldn't help it and he glanced to the left and met the eyes of the woman he loved so much, his wife, doctor Caitlin Snow. She was standing there, never letting him out of her sight, staring with so much awe and pride that it truly melted his heart and he wanted nothing more than to find himself alone with her and celebrate properly. In the end, he just smiled to her brightly and winked at her before continuing taking to the crowd and eventually answering questions. This was what he'd worked his entire life for and he would enjoy it. The time for other things would come later. It always did.

Oh, if only he knew…

After the conference, they retreated to the cortex, ready to put the accelerator online and to pop some champagne.

Harrison was just thanking his team for their combine efforts, putting an arm around his wife and bringing her closer to his side, even risking a small kiss to the side of her head as she giggled.

And then it happened.

A loud bang.

And everything went to hell.

He remembered shouting he needed to manually shut the accelerator down since the system was breaking down and he couldn't do it remotely.

He remembered Snow holding onto his arm, the terrified expression in her eyes as she refused to let him go, telling him she loved him and she wouldn't let him.

He remembered cupping her face, looking into the hazel eyes of hers and telling her he'd be all right and he just needed her safe.

He remembered promising her he'd come back to her as soon as possible and that she was all that mattered to him in the end.

"But… Harry, your dream…"

"You are my dream and have always been."

He kissed her briefly and then gestured to a staff member to take her outside whereas he ran through the other door, still hearing her calling after him.

That was the last time he saw her.

He did manage to shut the accelerator down with some help from an employee who also decided to stay behind as he was the one responsible for actually building it. Also, the employee paid for that with his life whereas Harrison walked out of it without a scratch. Well, if not counting the one in his heart, that was. But that would come a little bit later.

He remembered running out of the Labs, seeing all the ambulances and police and firefighters there. He remembered the havoc and panic, but he only cared about one thing. He needed to find her. He needed to find her now and hold her and maybe just run away from all of this. He would just take her and escape to the other side of the world…

He just…

Minutes were dragging by, people were leaving the site and he still couldn't find her. He couldn't breathe, a terrible vise clenched over his chest, over his heart. Where was she?! Where the hell was she?!

Hours later he was left alone, panicking, out of his mind, lost.

It was then that someone walked over to him and he recoiled when the man – paramedic as it turned out – asked whether he was all right, whether he needed help.

A day later he had everyone out there looking for her. _Nothing._

A week later he was a wreck of man, just sitting on his couch, shower forgotten, stubble turning into beard. She was gone.

A month later he felt dead inside. A crazy person who didn't know how to be anymore.

And just then, he heard about Barry Allen.

That was the jolt of electricity in his veins that he needed, the distraction that would prevent him from ruining himself so badly that there would be no coming back.

Or maybe he didn't want to come back? Maybe this was exactly what he deserved?

Or maybe he should just own up to his mistakes and make amends? After all, he _deserved_ to suffer. He _deserved_ it all. He would honor his wife's memory – but now thought of to be completely incinerated in the explosion, all the PIs suspecting she'd somehow tried to come back for him and got caught in the crossfire – by doing some good. He would help the mysterious boy in a coma. He would help them all.

* * *

_Now_

He didn't know how much time had passed as he was just sitting in his office, his face buried in his hands, the most painful memories so vivid in his mind, brought to the surface by the unexpected appearance of the ice metahuman. His body shook and he was shocked to feel tears underneath the palms of his hands. He quickly wiped them away, sniffling a little when there was a sudden knock on the door.

He jolted upright, immediately grabbing his glasses and putting them on when Barry stuck his head in the door.

"Harry? There's something you need to see."

"What is it, Allen? I'm really not in the mood for…"

"No! It's good news! I promise! You _need_ to come with me _now_!" And before Harrison managed to say anything to that, he felt himself being grabbed and moving with such a speed that it nearly turned his stomach out.

Next thing he knew, he was standing in the pipeline.

It was then that he heard, "Harry?"

Everything in him stilled, yet, once again that moment, a terrible dropping feeling in his stomach as he recognized this voice perfectly, as…

He raised his head and found himself face to face not with the ice queen he'd seen earlier but with…

" _Snow_ ," he rasped, his eyes and mouth opening widely as he moved closer, his hands on the glass wall.

"We thought we'd try to turn on the power dampener in the cell," he vaguely heard Cisco explain. "And it worked. It's still her, Harry, just taken over by something we don't know yet."

"Open the door," Harrison commanded immediately, not able to tear his eyes away from the beautiful woman standing on the other side. It was Caitlin. It was his precious Snow and… His heart couldn't take it. He could feel it beating widely, emotions wrecking havoc in his body again, but he didn't care. He needed to…

"But it can be dange…" Barry started, yet Harry interrupted him immediately by yelling at him menacingly, " _Open the damn door!"_

In the end, Cisco was the one who did it, not able to stand his friend's suffering any longer and once the barrier was gone, Harry just pushed forward, waking into the cell and melting against the woman he loved and missed so much the last three years.

He heard the door closing behind him, which must've been Allen just being cautious, but he didn't care. He was _home_.

 


	3. Chapter 3

It seemed like they'd stood there embraced for ages, not caring for anything and anyone but each other, the rest of the world be damned along with those lonely years prior. In that moment, Harry didn't care why she disappeared, ready to forgive her just about anything. All that mattered was that she was home, in his arms and he made a vow that he would never let go of her again.

He vaguely heard Barry asking Cisco whether they could use the metahuman cuffs to let her out of the cage and Cisco commenting on how young she seemed in comparison to their boss. Harrison maybe should've shot the younger man a menacing look or said something, but he truly couldn't care less.

Finally, what seemed like a whole eternity to him, he released Caitlin from his arms so he could look at her again, though he immediately regretted it as his body craved hers that always fitted so perfectly when they embraced. His hands immediately went up to cup her face and he stared and stared into her eyes, noticing them slowly filling up with tears.

"Harry," she eventually spoke in a low voice, "how long?"

His face hardened immediately, the mask, he'd learnt to put on though the years, back in place as the last thing he wanted was to fall apart. She must've noticed the difference because she frowned slightly and then even more tears flowed, the pain and terrible guilt of hurting him all over her face.

"Three years," they heard Cisco answering from the other side of the glass and they both turned to him briefly.

"I'm so… God, I'm sorry!" Caitlin raised her voice, covering her face with her hands while forcing Harry to let go of it in the same time. "I never wanted this to happen! I never wanted to hurt you! God! It's all _her_ fault! I wouldn't even hold it against you if you found someone, if you made a new life for yourself… I…"

" _Stop,_ " came strong and hard from Wells and she just had to look up at him in surprise. " _There never was and never will be_ any other woman for me. When I thought…" his voice broke a little, so he took a deep breath before he continued, "When I thought I'd lost you, that was _it_ for me. I was just done, Snow."

"No. No! I never… I never wanted such suffering for you. All I ever wanted…"

They just now realized Barry was gone as he suddenly appeared again, speeding back and causing Caitlin's eyes to open wider. He was holding meta cuffs in his hands.

"Out of the question! I won't put _cuffs_ on my _wife_!" Harrison immediately protested, but said wife only raised her hand.

"I want you to," she said. "Because this is the only way you can keep _me_."

"You said it was all _her_ fault," Cisco picked up on that. "What did you mean? The ice queen we saw…"

"Killer Frost," she provided with a name.

"Oh, wow… that's actually good." Cisco nodded in approval. "So, she's… she's your power?"

"When she takes control, I don't remember much of what happens. I only have…" Caitlin risked a brief glance at her husband, sensing the coiled tension already gathering up in him and she wasn't wrong. He looked like he was about to explode. "I only have short memories, some visions, places, people…" She frowned. "It's like I'm there, but not really there, just… trapped in my own body, my own mind. And I can't escape her." She started to shake, realizing how badly she wanted to stay herself, the knowledge of the years wasted and what that had done to Harrison, the one person she loved more than anything, almost destroying her. She felt like she started to have a panic attack and then, everything just stopped because _his_ arms were back around her, his chest raising and falling along with her own, his breath on the side of her head. He was her oasis and the calm she needed, so she clang to him, fighting tears, fighting an anxiety attack.

"Snow, you're safe. You're home. I won't let anyone hurt you. We'll figure this out. We'll make sure she'll never come forward again."

She nodded against him, because that was truly all she could do.

"Guys, maybe we should move to some cozier place? The lounge would be most comfortable for this, I think and Barry can run to Jitters for some coffee and to Big Belly Burger for food. What do you say?" Cisco suggested and the couple parted again.

"I'm sorry," Caitlin apologized then. "I haven't introduced myself properly."

"One second," Barry said when opening the door and then putting the cuffs on her wrists. Harry still didn't like the idea, but when aware of the danger, he had to let it go.

"I'm doctor Caitlin Snow-Wells," she introduced herself when shaking the speedster's hand.

"Barry Allen, the Flash."

"Interesting." She actually sent his way a sweet smile and he thought his boss truly knew how to pick them. Despite everything this woman had been through, she somehow still managed to be grateful and cheerful. And she was supernice, unlike the cold meta he'd captured.

"Cisco Ramon."

"Hi, Cisco. I'm Cait."

* * *

"So," Harrison started when they all settled themselves in the lounge; burgers, fries and coffee all picked up and brought by Barry, "this… Killer Frost," he hesitated, sitting as close to Caitlin as he could, his arm draped around her when she was eating, "how it happened? Was it… It was _my_ fault, wasn't it?"

Cait's expression faltered.

"No, Harry, what are you…?" She put the burger aside and turned to him.

"I built the accelerator."

"I thought _we_ did it together with the help of our team. There was no way of knowing what would happen. We were so sure. You can't blame yourself."

"But if I hadn't launched it, you wouldn't have become a meta, you wouldn't have been gone and all those metas… they wouldn't have existed."

"But they do. And you can't take that back. We can only move forward. Besides, look how much good Barry is doing for this city. I mean… yes, I wished I found my way back to you sooner, but… I fought. I fought so hard and the thought of you, my love for you was the only thing that kept me from giving up, that made wanna fight her that much stronger." By the time Caitlin finished, she was holding Harrison's hands in hers, hating that her skin seemed colder to the touch now.

"Was she created by the explosion?" Barry asked just then. "I mean… you were hit with dark matter and… she just came forward?"

"Something like that." Snow let go of her husband and turned to the two remaining men in the room. "I wanted to find Harry. I was so scared for him when we parted and then… something else crawled into my thoughts, into my mind. I was so, so cold and when I touched something, it turned to ice. I was terrified and I was slowly losing it. Losing _myself_. I was screaming inside of my head to come back, to not to run away from the Labs, but it was too late. I was disoriented and Killer Frost was stronger. I passed out. I mean… the me in this body fell asleep or lost consciousness. I don't know. I was there, but I wasn't… By the time I managed to wake up, to understand what was happening, she pushed me under again."

Snow didn't even realize she was shaking before Harrison's hands were on her arms, steadying her, his fingers drawing soothing patterns.

"It's ok, Snow. What matters is that you're home now."

"No, it's not ok. My powers may be suppressed and it may work in the long haul," she flung her cuffed wrists, "but he'll find me. He'll come for me and this time I won't be able to run."

"Who?" Cisco frowned on hearing that.

Harrison tensed up once again, expecting the worse, expecting Killer Frost had teamed up with an equally deadly metahuman, that they'd been… he swallowed hard and didn't even notice he fisted his hands until he felt Caitlin's gentle and cold touch there.

"No, it's not like that, Harry. It's just… I don't remember much. Killer Frost… he found her. He used her to do his dirty work for him."

"How? If he needed a muscle, then he couldn't be as powerful," Barry pointed out.

"Oh, he is, trust me. In fact, I think he may be the perfect opponent for you," Caitlin told him. "He calls himself Zoom and he's a speedster."

"Another speedster? How come we didn't hear about him?" Cisco asked in curiosity.

"Because all this time I was on another earth," the surprising answer came. "He grabbed me and took me to his earth, Earth 3, because his own Killer Frost died. He has a guy who can open up breaches and… I couldn't escape. That was the hardest part. I couldn't escape because I wasn't _here_. I finally managed to sneak out through an open breach when I saw the opportunity. Killer Frost was distracted. I think… I think she might be falling for Zoom, but it's not like she could do anything about it. The basic touch of hers can kill, even a speedster."

She knew it would be too much and that was why she was stalling with that particular piece of the puzzle, now seeing Harry just sitting there, his face buried in his hands. She truly wished she could've spared him the pain. God knew they didn't deserve it. That _he_ didn't deserve it, because truly, he was the best husband she could ever ask for, the light of her life, the love she couldn't live without. Her feelings were so strong that even when being Killer Frost, she still found a way to make it back home to him. She just wished it hadn't taken her so long.

"Harry, I'm so, so sorry," she sobbed as she couldn't fight the tears anymore.

"Hey, no, it's ok," he assured her immediately, which only made her cry harder, because he always put her first and disregarded his own feelings. She wasn't blind. She did see how he'd changed, but her feelings didn't. Whatever had happened to him, whatever he'd had to go through, it was still her Harry and her _home_.

"I think it's enough for today. You, guys, get some rest. We can pick this up tomorrow," Cisco decided just then when getting up and gathering up the used up cups and paper bags.

"I agree," Barry confirmed. "If you need me, just use the panic button on your phone," he told Harry. "I'll be there in a flash." He winked.

The older man didn't break a smile, but Caitlin did and it only made Barry more sure of what a remarkable and strong person she was.

* * *

It was late at night, yet Harry couldn't sleep, just sitting in a chair near the bed and watching Caitlin's sleeping form.

He didn't want to push or touch her or more, scared that the trauma she'd been through was still too fresh. In the end, he just stayed away, resolving to only holding on to her and helping her out. It was already too much to walk into their old apartment and find it completely unchanged with her clothes still hanging in the closet. He could tell it from the expression on her face, though none of them commented on it.

He truly didn't know what to do next and where they would go from now, but it didn't matter in the end. He was sure that with their combined efforts they could stop Zoom, whoever the man was and that Caitlin would be safe as long as she wore the cuffs. He hated them, of course, but for now they would have to suffice. He'd work on something better later or maybe on an actual cure. Then again, he knew he needed her for that and her bio-chemical expertise. They'd always made such a great team and he was sure they would continue to do so. They just needed time to heal. And he would give her as much time as she wanted. He was just grateful that she was there, even if he still had trouble believing it and maybe that was also the reason why he hadn't gone to sleep yet. He was simply afraid that she'd disappear in the morning.

He jumped when she actually screamed, throwing on the bed.

"No! Don't make me do this! No! Stop!" she kept on repeating and he was immediately there by her side, placing his hands on her arms and stirring her awake.

"Snow! Snow, it's ok. You're safe," he kept on repeating and she finally stilled, opening her eyes and seeing him there.

"Harry!" she called his name and clang to his body with all her might. "Oh, my God, I'm so happy you're here. I love you."

"I love you, too. It's ok."

Somehow he ended up in bed with her, holding her, her pressing her entire body into his, seeking out his warmth and touch.

"Bad dream?" he finally asked, feeling kind of awkward and guilty. She was way too close and it'd been three years, after all. He couldn't help his body finally reacting to her.

"Zoom… making Killer frost do… terrible things… She… She _killed_ people, Harry. Froze them to death."

"It's not on you. You tried to stop her."

"I failed. I only managed to escape and it took _everything_ from me. She was so angry when we landed back here. Her powers… She made it so cold and snowy… and thank God, Barry found me and brought me back to you." By the time she was finished, her face was at the level with his and he couldn't help it. He cupped it and pressed his lips against hers, needing this kiss like a thirsty man on a desert.

He was relieved when she kissed him back and then she couldn't seem to stop, finally feeling like home. His lips and his hands were stripping away not only her clothes, but were also making the bad dream and her memories disappear.

"Snow… wait… Are you sure?" he asked when he finally forced himself to tear away from her, noticing in surprise that she was naked and he only had his pants left on.

"Yes. I want this. I want you. Always. It's been too long."

He didn't need anything else. He resumed kissing her, flipping them so he was the one on top, paying attention to her body the way she deserved, warming her up and letting the flames consume them both when her hands finally donned his pants and let him slid inside.

_Home_ it was, indeed, they thought when making desperate love to each other.


End file.
